Friends, are you sending out holiday cards? I am and love to do so but find waiting in line at the post office to speak to someone who is surely(!) going to be surly and who may or may not have the stamps I actually want really takes away from the whole joyful season spirit of the card process. This year, thusly, I ordered my stamps from the USPS directly. Do you know about this? You get exactly what you want for $1. It would cost me more than $1 in both gas and peace-of-mind to get to any of our local post offices, and while I am hugely in support of the USPS and think real mail is really an underrated gift and social art that is getting left behind, I do draw the line at voluntarily getting the stink eye from a disgruntled worker. You might wonder: why does the freaking post office charge to deliver mail when a) that's their job, and b) they're already coming to your house? Valid question, but they're already broke as get-out and someone has to go get all those stamps together and address an envelope to you. So pay your $1 and enjoy it!
The sunchokes...I got so caught up in the onion confit that I forgot about the sunchokes. As you might have surmised from my obsessive pursuit of these puppies yesterday morning, I love them. I eagerly await the advent of sunchoke season and miss them terribly when it's over. Usually I do a simple roast, sometimes a mash of potatoes and celeriac with sunchoke "croutons" on top, sometimes I fry them into paper-thin chips. Tonight I'm going to roast them and make a hazelnut gremolata (hazelnuts, lemon, garlic, parsley) to go on top, a recipe I came across on food52 which sounded terribly promising.

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